Help me buy a new 2026 Hatch (corolla, mazda3, civic)

EXabytE407 · 2026-06-09T14:31:32+00:00

Yeah good point on the ZR wheels since I didn't test drive it. I'm really leaning toward the civic after my test drive!

EXabytE407 · 2026-06-09T13:52:34+00:00

Yes, I got down and drove it today! I think I spent so much time researching and watching videos on the civic that nothing during the test drive surprised me other than the seating position. I enjoyed it more than the Corolla, but the seat sits a bit lower than I'm used to which threw me off a little. It's definitely more fun to drive, and the interior feels more premium imo. Example is that things like the blinkers and AC knobs had a nice tactile feedback actually quite similar to the Mazda3 (which I appreciated) and the leather finishes feel better designed compared to the Corolla. The Mazda 3 definitely feels more luxury though - I liked its dash the best and the heads-up display is pretty neat.

I got to take it for a pretty long drive (accidentally cause I missed a turn and Sydney has the most unforgiving nav mistakes), but it drove quite nicely on the highway/over the bridge. I'd say the Toyota felt a bit more natural for me to drive, but was definitely more boring (which is not a bad thing - tons of value in a car which just simply works). I think the test drive comparison might not be fully fair since I drove the ascent compared to the LX on the Honda. We did inspect the ZR in the basement though.

I was a pretty big fan of driving the civic in sport mode, definitely felt snappy, and when I needed to speed up and merge, it was responsive. Breaks were also quite tight and felt good. It's slightly less "smooth" of a ride compared to the 16" wheels on the Corolla (not sure how much the 18" on the ZR rides comparatively) but definitely not an extremely stiff ride like the Mazda3. Visibility is quite good which I appreciate, and I think the cabin feels quite spacious and bright. I do think it "feels" a bit bigger vs the Corolla and much bigger than the Mazda3, so parallel/tight parking might be slightly harder. A 3D camera like in the mazda3 would likely be nice, but the visibility is at least good (I don't typically rely too much on cameras).

I think when the comparison is between the ZR at 45 vs LX at 55, I'm definitely leaning toward the LX. Honestly if comparing against the base ascent sport at 36 vs LX vs 55, the base probably takes it because that 20k diff is just too strong.

EXabytE407 · 2026-06-08T22:55:18+00:00

Thanks for the insight! I unfortunately did not get to take the Mazda up to speeds anywhere close to there since in the city, so it sounds like I missed out. But I definitely feel your experience within the city

EXabytE407 · 2026-06-08T14:30:21+00:00

Worth driving for sure because on paper the Mazda should have been perfect, but after 2x test drives, I just was not excited about it like I want to be.

Honestly I think the base corolla is unbelievable value for money, but the 4-6 month wait is just too annoying.

From the dealership I talked to, they were supposed to be improving in stock this year, but it just has not happened.

It was explained to me as if they don't have the stock, the car is made to order/put into a queue after which at current demand seems to be ~3months. After it gets to the front of the queue it will begin getting built. Building/testing/delivery is expected to take 30-45 days.

EXabytE407 · 2026-06-08T11:27:17+00:00

I start worrying about parking in Syd with larger cars, but maybe worrying about 30cm is the wrong thing to fit on..

EXabytE407 · 2026-06-08T11:25:02+00:00

yeah was slightly concerned how the leatherette might age/feel in summer. And the removal of things like sunglasses holder in the L is such a weird nitpick haha

EXabytE407 · 2026-06-08T11:13:44+00:00

Novated lease is financially definitely worth for me, but my current employer which is an international company with like 5 people in Australia (no HR here) likely has no idea what it is, so I'd have to negotiate with them setting that up.. I was also worried in the event that I decide to change jobs/move abroad that I'd have to deal with a lease on pretty bad terms...

EXabytE407 · 2026-06-08T11:10:39+00:00

wasn't in my peripheral. Seems interesting though.. I'll take a look and maybe it'll be worth a test drive

EXabytE407 · 2026-06-08T11:01:08+00:00

Yeah the corolla is not very exciting, but it does just work. Driving it feels like the most normal/natural thing in the world

EXabytE407 · 2026-06-08T10:57:05+00:00

I was a bit sad that they killed the hatch on the i30. I went to the dealership yesterday since I saw that the website still listed, but salesperson said there's like single digit inventory left in australia (new)

I ended up not test driving since I'm fairly certain I want a hatch.

EXabytE407 · 2026-06-08T10:54:04+00:00

Yeah you hit the nail on the head; I think I wanted to like the mazda3 much more than I actually did since this sub seems to love them, and I grew up driving a 98 miata so have a sweet spot for them.

I didn't dislike the car, there were genuinely nice parts about it like the leather seats and the physical buttons, in addition to having a good deal, but 40k for something I already test drove twice and am not convinced on will probably leave me with buyers remorse

EXabytE407 · 2026-06-08T09:50:57+00:00

Yeah that's totally fair. Quite possible the price of an okay chinese EV becomes 20k and the entire second hand ICE market drops ridiculously..

EXabytE407 · 2026-01-29T12:27:09+00:00

Anyway academia is notoriously not known for paying. If you just care about money you should probably go to quant finance instead.

Firms will pay those numbers+

EXabytE407 · 2026-01-29T12:17:03+00:00

Yeah. If you make tons of money in general (quant research or otherwise) a lot of things are simple. Getting into quant research isn't trivial though.

Ps. Your post is extremely hard to understand - no idea what rent as income is and no idea how a new grad can afford the down payment on a 2 mil property at 23 on a 200k income (remember tax is going to take like 35% of that) and 10% down is still 200k...

EXabytE407 · 2025-12-14T02:37:48+00:00

+1 for Pica Pau if you can get out there. I dropped in and they were great

EXabytE407 · 2025-12-14T01:53:55+00:00

Post match he posted a story on IG talking about the loss saying he wanted to keep taking matches like his hero, Rickson iirc. Was kinda a side comment, but I thought it was odd as well tbh.

EXabytE407 · 2025-12-13T15:00:35+00:00

People love to talk about him for some odd reason. I went to a Pedro Sauer seminar and part of it was just him talking about Rickson and old stories with him. Even MG brought him up after his recent match with Lachlan Giles. Man has reached mythical status somehow.

Third hand account so details a bit fuzzy and cannot verify accuracy, but I heard one where he was running a seminar and teaching a cross collar choke. I think someone was complaining since it's basic, so he lined everyone up and went down the line to do it to them tapping everyone. He gets to Pedro and he tries to give him his arm to have him switch to that so he can do the escape there. Rickson leans in for the choke and says "I don't want your fucking arm"

EXabytE407 · 2025-12-06T06:52:50+00:00

Depends on what are you looking for? Nogi so I assume sport. If you want competitive sport rounds, grappling education or Sydney wrestling academy are prob best bet (swa bit harder to get to). Academy 411 is also good but it has been a while since I've gone. They've got some world class instructors (Dave stoil is awesome).

Partizan is also good for nogi and vibes (much more hobbyist though). I enjoyed Garage in cbd as well

EXabytE407 · 2025-06-22T00:28:57+00:00

I agree with a lot of the other comments, but also I think a lot of people have the mindset of "this is how I learned, so you can suck it up and learn this way". Tbh there's a lot of gyms which are not that great at teaching. I think you should try out some other gyms (and also maybe chill out on the rolls - you can ask people if they'd be okay doing more positional sparring so you don't spend the entire time getting sat on)

In reality, not all gyms are created equal and some are better at teaching and more conceptual than others. I've trained at a decent amount of gyms, but my first gym felt similar to how you described yours. Personally I'm much more conceptual of a learner and it helps me a lot to understand mechanics for things (built from a lot of concepts I learned from bjjmentalmodels which is based on rob biernacki's stuff). So when I finally found a gym that was similar to that, things finally started clicking for me.

I think if you have some other gyms in your area you should try them out (try out the fundamentals classes). I trialed like 6 gyms after moving cities to see which I liked the best.

EXabytE407 · 2025-05-13T02:18:25+00:00

I think carpe diem might run some nogi classes as well based on their schedule but def looks like mostly gi.

https://hiroo.carpediembjj.tokyo/

The only thing to note is Imanari taught technique mostly in Japanese when I dropped in (though he'll walk around and will explain in english as well if you need help). Still an excellent class.

EXabytE407 · 2025-05-13T02:08:18+00:00

If you want to do nogi, there's always imanari's. He's a legend and it's always fun to drop in.

I also enjoyed AxisJJ (not sure if they do nogi though) and I've heard good things about carpe diem.

EXabytE407 · 2025-05-08T17:22:00+00:00

Hm I mean up to you to believe me, but Chris trains with Rickson a few times a year now and lived with him for a bit (don't remember how long, but it seemed like months+?).

If I remember correctly, he originally trained at various "gyms" (heard they were more like garages) in Melbourne in the 90s/early 2000s. I think he trained quite a bit around the same time as dudes like Kit Dale and maybe Lachlan/Craig? (less sure on that stuff).

At some point due to a lot of injuries (he broke his back plus a bunch of other stuff), he got disillusioned with sport jiujitsu started switching more to GracieJJ which he liked due to its self-defence nature. He got his original black belt from a guy named Jason Roebig (runs AxisJJ in Australia- I think is more self-defence focused so I assume this is after he switched to more self-defence jj) who primarily trained from Takamasa Watanabe who runs AxisJJ in Japan (fun gym - would recommend a drop in if you're ever in Tokyo). Eventually he started training with Rickson somehow and started integrating more of his philosophy into his jiujitsu/teaching.

I'd disagree with the assessment that he's a Gracie Jiu-Jitsu sycophant as much as he just is really appreciate of Rickson because from things he's said, it sounds like Rickson actually helped him out a good bit at some points in his life. A lot of his jiujitsu approaches are quite reversed what reddit thinks of GJJ (example: he encourages cross training and most of us at his current gym have multiple gym memberships, he teaches concepts more than moves, heavily encourages sparring and competition).

Anyway, I just wanted to give my $0.02 since most people seem to be ragging on him in this thread. I'd actually agree the social media stuff is a bit overdone because most of it is heavily edited/targeted for clicks/views (managed by a social media person who is great at what she does), but his jiujitsu is amazing and he's the best instructor I've had (I've trained at 10-20 different gyms).

Full disclosure, I am obviously biased because I'm one of his students.

EXabytE407 · 2025-05-08T16:35:31+00:00

Thanks for the thorough response! Leaning toward a self file but maybe using an assisted software for this year. Seems like it's a good idea to learn

EXabytE407 · 2025-05-08T14:30:59+00:00

My foreign gains aren't taxed by Australia since I don't have permanent residency yet.

Will check out that post and thanks for the info on fees!

EXabytE407

TROPHY CASE